Early Life Stress Can Alter Brain Structure | Health and Wellness News Friday, September 09, 2011 By: Byron J. Richards, Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist A child’s relationship with their mother is a key factor in terms of how their brain develops. If the mom is depressed then the child’s brain processes stress differently, leading to a larger amygdala and higher levels of glucocorticoids. This would cause a person to grow up with a brain structure more prone to an aggressive/combative stress response. The amygdala is a key part of your subconscious brain that processes threats to survival. In animal experiments, if a probe touches the amygdala the animal experiences immediate rage. Normal development of this gland appears to need a stable environment, one that is highlighted by the love and care of mom. The same has also been found for children raised in orphanages.
What makes people feel pleasure? Paul Bloom: The origins of pleasure Paul Bloom: Some pleasures seem easy to explain as a result of biologyHe says others depend on our thoughts about the value of what we're experiencingWine experts will rate a wine with a fancy label more highly than an ordinary oneThere is always more to pleasure than its physical aspect, Bloom says Editor's note: Paul Bloom is professor of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University, where he directs the Mind and Development Lab. Follow him at twitter.com/paulbloomatyale. (CNN) -- Some questions about pleasure have easy answers. Animals like us need food and water to survive, need sex to reproduce, and need to attend to and care for our children in order to pass on our genes. But many human pleasures are far more mysterious. How do we explain these weird, and uniquely human, pleasures? The essence of pleasure The enjoyment we get from something is powerfully influenced by what we think that thing really is. Wine is a perfect example of this.
Mental Illness in Academe - Advice By Elyn R. Saks My students filled the room. They were interested and eager, unusually so, given that they were second- and third-year law students for whom the fear and trembling that came with the first year had long since faded. I heard myself speak, surprising myself by the steady sound of my voice as I tried to restore my attention to the group before me: "What if Billie Boggs were your sister—would you put her in a psychiatric hospital then?" Concentrate. I pulled myself together, enough to point to a young woman who spoke often in class. Is she trying to kill me? I knew not to say those thoughts out loud. But I'm not crazy. "Good," I replied. My brain is on fire! "But isn't health always preferred to illness?" Mercifully, the class ended. That was in September of 1991, and it was one of my worst such incidents. That has not turned out to be my life. My schizophrenia has not gone away. The first question you must ask yourself is whether to tell your chair and dean. Elyn R.
The Top 10 Psychology Studies of 2010 The end of 2010 fast approaches, and I'm thrilled to have been asked by the editors of Psychology Today to write about the Top 10 psychology studies of the year. I've focused on studies that I personally feel stand out, not only as examples of great science, but even more importantly, as examples of how the science of psychology can improve our lives. Each study has a clear "take home" message, offering the reader an insight or a simple strategy they can use to reach their goals , strengthen their relationships, make better decisions, or become happier. If you extract the wisdom from these ten studies and apply them in your own life, 2011 just might be a very good year. 1) How to Break Bad Habits If you are trying to stop smoking , swearing, or chewing your nails, you have probably tried the strategy of distracting yourself - taking your mind off whatever it is you are trying not to do - to break the habit. J. 2) How to Make Everything Seem Easier J. 3) How To Manage Your Time Better M. J.
A daughter faces demons of father's war It took Christal Presley many years to understand how a war that took place before she was even born had marred her life. Her father, Delmer Presley, was traumatized by a yearlong tour of Vietnam, which in turn affected Christal. After a series of difficult conversations with her father, Christal journeyed to Vietnam to see the place where he had fought. She brought home a piece of asphalt from the landing zone used by Delmer's Army unit. Christal's conversations with Delmer resulted in "Thirty Days With My Father," a gritty book that tells the story of a woman troubled by her father's wartime trauma. Christal knows that music saved her father's life. Christal settled into a new life in Atlanta, but she kept searching for inner peace. How a book became salvation (CNN) -- Inside a trailer in Honaker, Virginia, is a 5-year-old girl who loves lemon-lime slush. Her family is poor, and she is eating potted meat, blowing away cracker crumbs that fall into her lap. A hole in her soul Thirty days
Top 10 Thinking Traps Exposed Our minds set up many traps for us. Unless we’re aware of them, these traps can seriously hinder our ability to think rationally, leading us to bad reasoning and making stupid decisions. Features of our minds that are meant to help us may, eventually, get us into trouble. Here are the first 5 of the most harmful of these traps and how to avoid each one of them. 1. “Is the population of Turkey greater than 35 million? Lesson: Your starting point can heavily bias your thinking: initial impressions, ideas, estimates or data “anchor” subsequent thoughts. This trap is particularly dangerous as it’s deliberately used in many occasions, such as by experienced salesmen, who will show you a higher-priced item first, “anchoring” that price in your mind, for example. What can you do about it? Always view a problem from different perspectives. 2. In one experiment a group of people were randomly given one of two gifts — half received a decorated mug, the other half a large Swiss chocolate bar. 3. 4.
The Ten Most Revealing Psych Experiments Psychology is the study of the human mind and mental processes in relation to human behaviors - human nature. Due to its subject matter, psychology is not considered a 'hard' science, even though psychologists do experiment and publish their findings in respected journals. Some of the experiments psychologists have conducted over the years reveal things about the way we humans think and behave that we might not want to embrace, but which can at least help keep us humble. That's something. 1. The Robbers Cave Experiment is a classic social psychology experiment conducted with two groups of 11-year old boys at a state park in Oklahoma, and demonstrates just how easily an exclusive group identity is adopted and how quickly the group can degenerate into prejudice and antagonism toward outsiders. Researcher Muzafer Sherif actually conducted a series of 3 experiments. 2. The prisoners rebelled on the second day, and the reaction of the guards was swift and brutal. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
10 Brilliant Social Psychology Studies | PsyBlog Ten of the most influential social psychology experiments explain why we sometimes do dumb or irrational things. “I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures.Why do good people sometimes act evil?Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?” –Philip Zimbardo Like famous social psychologist Professor Philip Zimbardo (author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil), I’m also obsessed with why we do dumb or irrational things. The answer quite often is because of other people — something social psychologists have comprehensively shown. Each of the 10 brilliant social psychology experiments below tells a unique, insightful story relevant to all our lives, every day. Click the link in each social psychology experiment to get the full description and explanation of each phenomenon. 1. The halo effect is a finding from a famous social psychology experiment. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
10 More Common Faults in Human Thought Humans This list is a follow up to Top 10 Common Faults in Human Thought. Thanks for everyone’s comments and feedback; you have inspired this second list! It is amazing that with all these biases, people are able to actually have a rational thought every now and then. The confirmation bias is the tendency to look for or interpret information in a way that confirms beliefs. The Availability heuristic is gauging what is more likely based on vivid memories. Illusion of Control is the tendency for individuals to believe they can control or at least influence outcomes that they clearly have no influence on. Interesting Fact: when playing craps in a casino, people will throw the dice hard when they need a high number and soft when they need a low number. The Planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete tasks. Interesting Fact: “Realistic pessimism” is a phenomenon where depressed or overly pessimistic people more accurately predict task completion estimations.